Philly unveils first protected bike lane

Mayor Kenney and Councilman Bobby Henon, fourth and third from left, respectively, attend the ribbon cutting at Ryan Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia.

Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia / Twitter

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Until last week, Philadelphia was the largest U.S. city without protected bike lanes. But an ongoing effort by the city to dhange that culminated Friday in the Northeast, where a one-mile portion of Ryan Avenue was unveiled as a dedicated bike-only lane.

Mayor Jim Kenney, joined by Councilman Bobby Henon and members of the Streets Department, formally opened the two-lane stretch in the city's Mayfair section along Ryan Avenue, from Lexington to Rowland Avenue. It passes by Pennypack Park, Abraham Lincoln High School and Austin Meehan Middle School.

As Metro's Randy LoBasso reported earlier this month, the 50-foot-wide street originally had vehicle parking against the curb, a bike lane inside the parking lane, two lanes of motor vehicle traffic and a center median. Now, cyclists are separated from motor vehicle traffic by a parking lane, which has been moved 14 feet into the street, with an additional 4-foot buffer zone between bike lanes and parked cars.